If Only To Dream Again
by SageGershon
Summary: He didn't know what he was thinking when he agreed to help her, but it was exactly ten seconds after the words left his mouth that he realized it had been a tremendously bad idea.   Mostly DH compliant. Warnings are inluded for each chapter individually.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **This is my first fic after a six year long hiatus. I'm now twenty and I'm inclined to believe my writing has changed just a bit from when I was fourteen, so I've changed accounts.

I've always enjoyed Snape, but it wasn't till after the seventh book that I felt that he was my favorite character. Now that the final movie is out, I feel the need to write about him. Life had gotten in the way of writing for quite a while, but now I finally have time, inspiration, and the proper ridiculous friends to blackmail me into continuing.

Please keep in mind that I do not have a beta reader and that I am American. I'm not going to try and make my writing sound more british, because I've tried and it failed stupendously. If you would like to beta read for me or brit-pick, that would be much appreciated. You can put that in a review or pm me.

I really hope you like it, and please whether you liked it, hated it, or loved it, review it! Reviews keep me alive and make me a better writer.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter... but I do own a 10'x5' canvas poster from Deathly Hallows Part One thanks to my neighborhood theater.

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><p>It was not what one would call a pleasant evening. The air was thick and the halls seemed almost darker than the night before. Never-the-less, it was an environment that he considered safe.<p>

Severus Snape was _not_ the average war hero. True, he had been instrumental in the Dark Lord's demise; also true, he had helped Harry Potter to realize what had to be done to defeat him. However, Severus sought neither fame, nor glory-only the isolation he had grown so accustomed to. He wanted nothing more but to shrink back to the solitude of his quiet house at Spinner's End and spend the rest of his days drowning in fire whiskey and misery. But for now, one would find said man in his chambers at Hogwarts, his home of sorts for far too long.

If one went looking for the tired potions master, they would find him in his cheerless chambers within the castle's dungeons, furiously scratching away at an unfortunate student's parchment. The student who had the misfortune of having their essay marked this fine evening would not find themselves _pleased _with the marks they received. It wasn't the atrocious weather, the upcoming exams, or sheer number of cauldrons that had exploded that day alone. No, it was a silly girl whose only mission was to pester him to the brink of madness.

She was the young and vibrant new addition to Hogwarts staff. And she had made it her mission to befriend him. At a very young twenty-one, the woman had been the youngest professor to walk the halls, save for him. She was the same age he had been when he assumed his post of professor. While his reasons for accepting the post came from trauma and desperation, she had no such reasons. She found the world of academia to be "inspiring and enlightening." He sneered at the thought. _Inspiring indeed. _

She had caught him at dinner one evening during her first week and began to gush about why she had been _so_ interested in the position as Charms professor. _"I've always just loved school. Whenever I had too much to deal with and my world was crashing around me, I found solace in learning…" _

Who knows how long the insufferable woman had kept on her monologue. He had stopped paying attention with in the first few moments.

Ironically enough, that woman had been the only staff member to even talk to him when he returned to teaching. He had spent over three months in the hospital wing after his near death experience with Nagini. He shuddered, brushing away the thought quickly. Most didn't even know that he had lived much less that he would return to teaching. The morning he walked through the doors of the great hall dressed in his usual teaching robes came as a shock to more than a few staff members. Still, the news of his true involvement in the war changed little when it came to other's treatment of him. Most avoided him like that plague as usual, and those who tried to be friendly and perhaps strike up a conversation didn't last long. It wasn't long before no one spoke to him, and he was content in that. It had been three years since the Battle of Hogwarts, and he had truly been quite happy not talking to his fellow teachers and being overly harsh to the dunderheads he taught. Oh, he had not been welcoming to her. He criticized her lack of experience, her horrendous teaching skills, and abhorrent choice of friends, but she seemed almost pleased. She would just laugh or smile up at him as if he had complemented her. Was she daft? Of course not! She just delighted in tormenting him, for that was the only logical conclusion. Even though he gave her neither warm replies nor any reasons at all to converse with him, she was determined at the very least to talk _at_ him.

She would plop herself in a chair next to him at dinner (and breakfast when she caught him) and immediately start in on her day. She would occasionally ask him questions and for his thoughts on a subject, but he simply responded with either a glared or a shake his head. He would never understand this woman. Why did she insist on this overly friendly nonsense? It had been almost an entire year of her constant twittering and still he didn't have a clue of what to make of her. She was transparent as glass and as thick as cement in the same moment, and he had no idea how to handle it. It wasn't so much that she was not bright, she had _earned_ the "brightest-witch-of-her-year" title. He admitted it freely. She was brilliant, beautiful, generally too happy to be considered human, and for some reason she had made it her mission to befriend _him._ He let out a ragged sigh.

It was because of the woman's puzzling enthusiasm that he was grading the essays before him with a more… _critical_ eye. And, for the record, he was not taking particular notice of the mistakes of Gryffindors. To do such a thing would be unethical. He set another essay aside and moved on to the next. Reading the first line of the essay he sighed, dipped his quill in ink, and scratched a sloppy "T" into the margin. He tried to concentrate on the papers, but _she_ kept invading his poorly occupied mind. Blasted woman.

And she would be there any moment.

He didn't know what he was thinking when he agreed to help her, but it was exactly ten seconds after the words left his mouth that he realized it had been a tremendously bad idea.

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><p>She sat next to him as usual, but the lack of incessant chatter was immediately apparent. She looked a bit… tired, for lack of a more fitting term. He should have been rejoicing in the silence, but he found he was more curious than elated. She spoke barely two words together and mostly pushed her food around her plate. After her unusually short dinner, she hurried out of the Great Hall without so much as a good bye. Considering she talked him to near deafness every other evening for the past months, this sudden change peaked his curiosity. But, despite her behavior he made no move to ask anyone about it and went straight to his chambers after eating. He would <em>not<em> waste another moment thinking about it.

It was a few minutes after two in the morning when a quiet knock at his chamber door woke him. He jumped from the bed, cursing. With all those years as a spy, the quietest damn thing would wake him. He moved towards the door thinking that he might as well hex whoever it was while he was up. He reached the door and flung it open, putting on his famous death glare. Oh, how he hoped he would be taking points from Gryffindor this early in the day. The harsh words he had prepared died on his throat as he stared out into the corridor. He stood at the door in shock for a moment before composing himself. She was at his door at two in the morning. He suddenly had the urge to take her by the shoulder and shake her repeatedly.

"Professor Granger," he drawled out, "Is there some logical reason as to why you are currently standing at my door at two in the morning?" If there was anything that irritated him more than an insufferable know-it-all, it was an insufferable know-it-all that woke him in the middle of the night. He was too busy thinking of ways to seek revenge to notice her expression at first glance. After a moment of contemplating possible plans for retribution, he took a good look at her. Her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes were blood shot. He paled. He had no idea how to react to this woman in _normal _circumstances; he was really out of his depth now. She seemed to be staring intently at the floor of the hall, her embarrassment and nervousness almost tangible. He attempted to soften his tone, but it more than likely came off as harsh and snarky as usual. He had never been very accomplished at playing nice. "Granger?" She looked up at him before quickly rubbing both her eyes with the heels of her hands. It seemed she was trying to will the tears away. He went with what seemed to be his only course of action and moved aside, motioning for her to enter. She quickly entered, avoiding looking at him. She sat down in a chair near the fireplace and released a long sigh as her shoulders sagged.

"I'm sorry Professor, but I had no idea who else to come to." She made a point to look into the flames, the light dancing across her face. "It's horrible." She leaned forward and covered her face with her hands, her elbows resting on her knees. His gaze slowling lowered from her face down. It was then that he noticed what she was wearing. A short, and fairly transparent, night dress. The hem of the dress only went down to her mid thigh and hitched up as she sat down, making it difficult to concentrate once more on _not_ staring. Her creamy skin glowed in the firelight as she sat back and began to play with a strand of her brown hair, obviously trying to figure out where to start or what to say. With that dress on, her frizzy and messy hair spilling over her shoulders, and sitting in his chambers in the firelight, it was a continuous struggle to convince himself that the image did nothing for him. _Honestly._ She was a colleague, and half his age, not to mention _insufferable_. She began to speak again and he forced himself to look away from her shapely legs.

"I've been having nightmares. _Terrible _nightmares. I've had them ever since I came back here. I mean, It's not _every_ night. I'm blessed with nice dreams on occasion." she stool a glance at him with what appeared to be a blush gracing her cheeks. It was more likely to be the fire, though. "I delt with the dreams after the war, but coming here made them so much worse." She stood, raking a hand through her tangled locks. "Being here and seeing this place again has brought everything back I guess. Sometime I feel that I can see all of it as though I am seeing it for the first time. Please…" she trailed off, looking straight into his eyes. With a wild look in her eyes, she suddenly moved to sit next to him on his couch. "Professor, I'm fairly talented at all I put my mind to, but I'm no potions mistress and I was wondering if you knew of anything that could help me. Perhaps we could work to devolpe something to help not only myself, but others who fought in the war. I can't shake these nightmares, and I'm starting to fear for my health, if not my sanity." She looked so vulnerable then, sitting next to him. He could see the beginnings of fresh tears prickling at the corners of her eyes again.

"Professor Granger-"

She gave out a laugh then, cutting him off. "It's Hermione. We've been working together for months now and I've come to your rooms in the middle of the night. I think we've reached that point." She gave him a watery smile.

He could almost feel heat rising to his cheeks. He was her ex-Professor though, and almost twice her age. _Old enough to be her father._ He had seen and done things in his life that most people could hardly fathom. He wasn't affected by her as if he were some school boy crushing on a pretty girl out of his league. At least, that's what he tried to convince himself. "Hermione, then, you are well known for being quite keen on research, surely you have come across many potions that would help. There is no reason for you to need my assistance." She took a deep breath at that and lowered her head.

"You are correct on that count, Professor. I-"

"Severus"

She looked a bit startled. "I'm sorry?"

He sighed. "If you insist for me to address you by your first name, then you might as well address me in the same fashion. We are colleagues after all." He almost rolled his eyes at his last statement. It was still hard to think of the young woman as anything but a ridiculous Gryffindor, determined to run his class and break rules, but he had to admit she had grown up. She seemed pleased by this turn of events and continued on.

"Severus…" His name on her lips was cruel. He didn't know exactly why, but he could feel something like a knife dig into his chest when she uttered it. Just what was he thinking, letting her talk to him so familiarly? "It's true that I have looked through all of the books at quite a few libraries on the subject, but I couldn't find anything that would suit my needs. Most are dangerous and the user may easily grow dependent on the potion. That is the last thing I want. Truly, Severus, I wasn't looking to see if you knew of one that would work, but to ask if perhaps you would work with me to try and discover some method that would help me while not causing harm. Perhaps something that would let me control the dream when I thought a dream was turning into a nightmare. I don't know if I'm even making sense right now. It's just… this last one has really shaken me."

He knew that it took a lot for her to overcome her Gryffindor stubbornness to ask for help. He should have mocked her mercilessly for not being able to complete her task alone, and thrown her out. He should have thrown out some sort of snarky, biting, response, sure to make her cringe. But he didn't. "Alright Hermione. I'm sure there are many more war veterans who could use a remedy to their sleeping problems as well as a way to alleviate the nightmares. I will work with you." He could see her soft eyes brighten at this. "Though, we will not start on this _project_ tonight. It's late, and some of us do not enjoy being woken at this hour." He could have sworn she turned a few shades darker. "Go get some sleep. I have enough cauldrons decimated daily by the lovely _students _of this school, I don't need professors coming in and taking part in the destruction." He added his trademark sneer to the last part. He didn't want her to get comfortable with him. She talked to him enough as it was. He couldn't imagine what horrors would befall him if she thought of him as a _friend_. She stood up abruptly from her seat, making her way over to the door.

"I doubt that I'll be able to sleep right now, Severus. I can't tell you how much this means to me." She gave him a bright smile. To his horror, it looked for a moment if she might hug him. He began to back pedal. He had a reputation to protect.

"Don't go getting any ideas, Granger. I've been asked by many healers at St. Mungo's to look into this over the years. You were just the last straw." Her smile stayed in place, obviously not taken back by his attitude.

"Don't worry _Snape_, I know better than to suspect favoritism." She said with a laugh in her voice. She walked out his door and into the hallway and turned to face him.

"Glad we are on the same page." He replied, rolling his eyes. "We may meet tomorrow evening after dinner to discuss this further." She gave a slight nod.

"That sounds good. Well, goodnight Severus." She began to walk down the hall before turning to him once more. "And thank you." He stood there in his door way looking after her until she was out of sight.

She really was insufferable.

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><p>And here he was. He was waiting impatiently for the woman to get there and was trying to grade essays to take his mind off of it. This only made things worse, and didn't help the students' grades either. She was late. He was very punctual himself and couldn't understand why anyone would be late for any sort of arrangement, unless they were heading off to be kissed by a dementor. He supposed he wouldn't want to be on time for that. He gave a loud sigh and threw the quill onto his desk. <em>Ridiculous! <em>How could she get up extraordinarily early just to catch him at breakfast, but when he was finally waiting for her, she's late? It was completely unfair!

Sure enough, a quiet, familiar, rapping was heard at his door not a moment later. He rose from his desk rather abruptly and made his way to the door, flinging it open with a bit more force than necessary. "You. Are. Late." He glared pointedly at her. She looked entirely unaffected, though.

"You said after dinner. You never specified an exact time, and I had to gather my books." She said brushing a piece of hair over her shoulder. He almost thought she looked down right amused.

He rolled his eyes at the rather impressive stack of books that were hovering behind her and moved to the side to let her in. "Let's get started, then." He pointed to a door on the far right of the room. "That door leads to the lab. You may find a place to put your books there. I will be there in a moment." He needed a drink. She was pushing his buttons and had only been in his presence a few minutes. This couldn't possibly end well.

He entered the lab a few moments later, carrying a few books from his private library. He stopped short when he got a good look at Granger. He almost started sputtering out some sort of questioning nonsense, but took a deep breath instead.

Professor Granger was not wearing appropriate potion brewing attire.

He glared at her pointedly before going to put his books down on an unused counter. She was wearing a dress that hung to her every curve and stopped just above her knees. He began to think she was doing this on purpose. That thought in mind, he hoped she would not need to be bending over to pick anything up.

"Well Severus, where should we start?" She asked, stretching her arms above her head and yawning. He could have sworn his eye twitched. That damn dress. She gave him a rather curious look and he realized that he had frozen on the spot, staring blatantly at her thighs. She began to fiddle with a strand of hair. "I realize what I'm wearing isn't the usual attire for potion making, but if we do start testing I want to be comfortable for sleeping. I'll be putting an apron on when and if we begin brewing, of course." She proceeded to take a hair-tie from around her wrist and pull her hair up into a high pony tail. She had a bag along with the stack of books and began to rifle through it, finally pulling out an apron. She pulled it over her head and tied the back before looking back to him. "Severus?" She gave him a curious look. "We are starting soon aren't we?" Apparently he had been caught staring. Again. He wasn't staring though. He was just thinking about why she had brought an apron with her instead of coming in appropriate attire and just happened to be staring intently at her legs and possibly her chest. He cleared his throat.

"Yes, we'll be starting now Granger." He sat down on a stool next to her and began picking up a few books. "You do realize that we need to do quite a bit more research before we start the brewing process, don't you? Even a Gryffindor would realize that you can't just jump head first into a project of this nature. _And, _when we get to start brewing, we won't immediately just start getting you to down it like pumpkin juice. Please think things thought when you are dressing next time." He gave her a glance out of the corner of his eye and started flipping through pages of an issue of _The Practical Potioneer_. He noticed a slight pink tint to her cheeks and the corners of his mouth twitched. Mission accomplished. "We need to be looking for attributes in various potions that serve our purposes and ways to add those attributes to one potion, while attempting to reduce any and all negative side effects. You aren't going to find directions on how to do this in _Hogwarts: A History _or any of the other utter rubbish you seem to enjoy." He gave her a cold stare. She sent him a glare right back, not backing down in the slightest.

"I realize that! I was just… I'm rather desperate to get rid of the nightmares or at the very least get some sleep, and I was just not thinking when I got dressed. I didn't want to stay in my teaching robes. They're too constricting." Her face had gone a shade darker as she spoke and he took pride in knowing that he had caused this reaction. He smirked.

"Well _Hermione,_" her name slipped of his tongue in an almost seductive manner. "You should think before you wear such _suggestive _attire," he leaned towards her giving her his best seductive smirk, "or you may give a man the wrong idea." He smirked at her stunned expression before turning back to his reading. Wait. Where on earth had that come from? Suggestive attire? Had he really just said that? _Say something insulting! Quick!_ "Well, if you want to be some sort of help when you are finished acting like a gaping fool, you can start going through these books and compiling lists of potions that have the effects we are looking for. The Draught of Peace would be a good place to start." She seemed to blink a few times taking in all of the information before quickly opening one of the books in front of her.

Four full hours had passed in silence in the potions lab. The list was growing exponentially and still there wasn't much of a dent in the reading material. So many potions had similar effects, that many on the list were almost repeats of a previous one. They supposed they would get to that later. Hermione stretched and waved her wand lazily. "Mmm…" she stretched again, "I think it is time we call it a night, Severus."

"Yes, I think that we have gotten all we can for now. We will have more time to dedicate to this over the weekend. Would you like to start again on Saturday?" He almost gave a sort of hopeful look, but skillfully held it back. He was not _hopeful _for this girl to take up his time on a Saturday. Lost in his thoughts, he almost didn't hear her reply.

"That sounds agreeable. I think we made significant progress tonight, even if we have quite a bit of work ahead of us."

He almost snorted. "I think we have much more than a 'bit' of work ahead of us. I'm warning you now Granger, this is going to be a long project with hard work and will take more than a little time." He raised an eyebrow as if to challenge her.

She gave him a bright smile. "I'm ready for it." Damn her and her Gryffindor brazenness. She quickly stacked her books and put her apron back into her bag and stepped toward the door. "See you Saturday, Severus." She gave him and smile and pulled the door open.

"Granger-"

She twirled around. "Yes?" He couldn't place the expression on her face.

"We haven't discussed a time and we need to decide due to your obvious problem with punctuality." He said smirking. Her expression changed to one of mild aggravation and her hands moved to her hips. "I think that meeting here at eight AM sharp would be acceptable." She groaned but accepted, then turned back to the door and left hastily. He knew she loathed getting up in the morning on Saturdays. He felt almost gleeful as he collected all of the books and began to put them back.

At least she would make things interesting.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: ** Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed, added this story to their favorites, or added this to their alerts! It really means a lot! I am _so _sorry about taking so long to update. I'm painting my room this week and I have had absolutely no time to write. I hope to get chapter three out more quickly. I also apologize for this chapter being incredibly short. I wanted to end it where I did and it just came out this way. I also thought that it would be better for me to give you one short chapter than nothing. I hope you enjoy it regardless. (:

**Answers to Reviews:**

IrishChic20: Thank you so much! Writing is sort of the easy part in the process for me. Proof reading is what I spend _hours_ agonizing over. xD

RealforUs: Thank you! I'm so glad you are enjoying how I portray Snape. I will continue to try and keep him in character. (:

Jael73: Thank you for the review! The reason for Snape's general bad behavior is mostly due to feeling out of his element after the war. He feels that he doesn't have to keep up the mean façade anymore, but feels that he doesn't know how else to act at this point. Lasting damage he suffers from will be covered later. ^^

Bournespeed: Thank you!

anonymous-affiliate: Thank you! (: With Hermione, I was going for more of her when she is completely devastated. At this point she has gone through so much that her coping mechanisms have changed a bit. Don't worry though; I won't be writing Hermione as weepy and week. We'll be seeing more of her trade mark spunk later on. (and maybe in this chapter)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter nor do I make any money from this work. If I did… Oh the possibilities.

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><p>It was exactly 8:05.<p>

She was _late. _

He looked up at the door again and confirmed that _no_, she had not shown up yet. He wasn't getting anxious about her arrival. He was _annoyed_. It had apparently become a habit of hers to only show up late to something that involved _him._ She was absurdly punctual about everything. She would show up to her own death on time, he thought. This was just another one of the infuriating witch's ways of getting under his skin. He now knew for a fact that this was on purpose. He slowly began to organize the stack of books he had collected in to alphabetical order. He just didn't want her to have any reason to not be able to find something. This way they could immediately start working. He was not-

"I swear!" No, he most certainly did not knock all of those books over because he had been surprised. He had been angry. He also wanted to see if he could get her to pick them up. Serves her right for being late. He looked up at her and nearly laughed. _Nearly._ Her bushy hair looked as if it had exploded, her clothes where wrinkled, and she was wearing mismatched shoes. _ Hmm. How unlike perfect Miss Granger. _"I. Blame. _You._" She didn't look particularly angry, but her voice did have a sort of… unpleasant tone.

"May I ask what my charges are, Professor Granger?" He almost felt his lips twitch into a smile before attempting to pull off a questioning glare.

She gave out a great huff and threw herself into the nearest chair. "You! You made me get up at this hour! What have I done to deserve this treatment?" Now he understood. She was throwing a tantrum. She didn't like having to wake up early, and was now showing that she would be a mess if forced to. She thought that if she came in looking like that, he would not make her come in so early in the future. How silly of her to think it would be that easy. His thoughts were interrupted by another huff from Granger. "Honestly Severus, I think we would have a more productive day if we started and ended later. Same amount of time spent, and I could be conscious for it." _Ah ha! He was right._

"I think not, Granger. Mornings will do just fine." He watched almost happily as she seemed to grimace. "We should get started." He moved to the stack of books when he remembered they were on the floor. "Pick up those books Granger. You knocked them over when you came in." _She's barely awake; she'll believe it._

"No I didn't. You _sent them flying _when I opened the door." _Damn._ She sounded as if she was laughing. "With all those years as a spy, I didn't think you would get spooked so easily!"

"I think you may need your eyes checked, Granger. I most certainly did not _send them flying_. They were not balanced properly and the reverberation from your graceful entrance to my office is what made them fall." _That's plausible at least._ She didn't seem convinced.

"I think that you are making things up as you go. I'll choose to ignore it though." She bent down and started to retrieve the strewn volumes as he stood. He thought of working in his office instead of the lab only because it was a bit more comfortable- his train of thought derailed suddenly. She was _bent over_ picking up the books. Merlin, how on earth could she stay bent over like that for so long? At least she was wearing pants this time.

"Severus?" She looked confused and perhaps slightly flushed. Though maybe he was mistaken.

"I thought we would work in the office today. I have an idea of where to start and It will not require brewing at this time." He smirked at her. "Perhaps we will be done soon and you can take a nap." She didn't particularly look amused by this, but arranged the books in a neat pile nonetheless. He sat in one of chairs in front of his desk and motioned for her to do so as well. "We discussed using another potion as a sort of base for our purposes and I think I may have come up with something." Her eyes seemed to brighten at this as he felt an almost indistinguishable tightening in his chest. "There is a commercial potion on the market currently that is very popular involving dreams. It's called _Pleasant Dreams. _Apparently the potion allows the user to have pleasant dreams about any person they may have… _amorous _intentions towards. Obviously we aren't looking for those sorts of dreams in particular, but having dreams instead of nightmares is a start. I thought that we should test your reaction to this potion and then make adjustments." Granger seemed significantly more _red _than usual.

"Severus, isn't _Pleasant Dreams_ a potion that makes the user have… _sex dreams_?" She shifted in her seat looking nervous. He worded his sentences very carefully just to avoid exactly this. He gave her a glare.

"Perhaps you would have those sorts of dreams, but that is not the express purpose. They did say _pleasant _not _pleasurable. _The potion does exactly what I said. It allows the user to have pleasant dreams about a specific person. Obviously, we will want anyone using this to be able to dream about anyone, not just one person so we will have to work on this." He then took a vial of potion from his desk and handed it to her. "I want you to take the potion and then write down _exactly _what you dream about. That way we can track how the dreams change depending on our modifications to the potion." Her face was still red, but she seemed to be taking him seriously at least.

"Alright. I think this does sound promising and I'll try it. But, I won't be writing down any names!" She stood up then and made her way towards the door, the vial in hand. "I'll come to your office before classes in the morning and let you know what I think could be done to alter the dreams." She turned and left his office. This looked to be quite the interesting project.

This morning he was looking forward to working on a potion. Now he was looking forward to hearing about Professor Granger's dreams. He knew this had been a bad idea.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** Hello everyone! Obviously everyone has realized by now that I am horrible about updating. I am _so sorry._ I've been crazy busy and just haven't had the will to cut down my precious sleeping hours in order to put out a new chapter. But, at least this one is much longer than the last! This chapter contains the first sex scene I've ever written, so please give me some feedback and perhaps some things I can work on. I'm not expecting my first time writing this to perfect by any means. ;)

Thank you all so much for the reviews, the numerous favorite story adds, and flooding my inbox with alert notices! I would appreciate some more reviews, though *nudge*. Perhaps it would encourage me to post faster? ;3

**This chapter is dedicated to one of my best friends, Randi. She's been asking for me to crank up the sexy in my stories for a while now. Here it is, dear. x3**

**WARNING(S): I'll be earning the "M" rating in this chapter. That means **_**sex, **_**my dears. And a bit of coarse language. I can't remember if I had any in previous chapters, but there is a little bit in this one. If this somehow bothers you or you find it offensive and you feel the need to flame, feel free. It adds to my review count. ^^**

**Disclaimer:** No, I don't own Harry Potter. If I did, I wouldn't have killed off all of my favorite characters. Thanks, Jo. You know I still worship you regardless.

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><p>We were in his office.<p>

Everyone else had gone for the day and we were the only ones around. It was very quiet. He was lecturing me again as if I were still in school. As if I was a child. I yelled at him and our fight began to escalate. Suddenly a strange idea came to me. I would get him flustered and then he would stop yelling at me. Yes, this would work splendidly.

"Professor…" I looked up at him with the most seductive look I could muster, "Will you have to punish me, sir?" I shifted my weight back and forth while crossing my arms in front of my chest in an attempt to show more cleavage. "Perhaps we can come up with a punishment more _suited to the crime._" I slowly walked to where he was standing and placed a hand on his chest. I could feel his heart race beneath the layers of fabric.

He didn't move away.

It wasn't what I had been expecting. There was a small desk behind me that students would use to write at during detention. He looked down at me with an expression I couldn't quite describe. He leaned in towards me, his hand coming to brush a strand of hair from my face.

"I believe I know of a way to punish you, _Miss Granger_." I shuddered.

Suddenly, he was on me. His hands held my face tenderly as his lips took mine. I gasped as his tongue applied gentle pressure to my lips. He took this opportunity to roughly thrust his tongue deep into my mouth as I let out a soft moan. The room seemed to heat up so quickly. He moved his hands from my face to my hips as he guided me back onto the small desk behind be. He picked me up placing me on the desk and moved my legs to wrap around his waist. He moved from plundering my mouth to kissing and nipping along the side of my neck. One of his hands was on my back pulling me closer as the other held the back of my thigh firmly. I pushed him away slightly deciding that at least a few of the numerous layers between us would have to go. I quickly began on the buttons of his robe as he began to bite harder on my neck. I couldn't help the breathy moan that escaped me. I moved quickly and soon there was nothing separating me from his chest. I softly peppered kisses along his shoulders, then his chest, and finally made a trail down his stomach. He was the one to moan this time. As I moved to begin removing his trousers, he let out a desperate growl and pulled me up. He pulled me tight against him and roughly kissed me as he moved his hands to the buttons of my dress. It was certainly convenient that I had decided to wear something with such easy access. His hands flew over the buttons as I clung to his shoulders. His mouth followed the trail his hands had made down to the edges of my bra. He kissed, sucked and bit at my skin as I tried to get my body closer to his. He made his way back to my mouth as I gripped him tightly. He groaned and thrust his hips against me.

I could finally feel his arousal pushing against me as he moved. We were both breathing hard as I shed the last of my clothes and moved to finally remove his trousers. I slowly removed his belt and took the zipper between my teeth. I slowly lowered it as he let out another groan. I finally unbuttoned the last of those irritating buttons and let his trousers fall. I then slipped his boxers down to his feet and he stepped out of them. He caught my mouth with his and we kissed deeply. It felt as if it went on for hours. His hands began to snake up from my thighs to gently cup my breasts. He ran the pads of his fingers over my nipples as I gasped and held onto him even tighter. He began kneading my breasts harder as we booth began to pant. Finally he stopped to look into my eyes and cup my face in his hands. He kissed me gently then. I sighed softly as his hands left my face. I gasped as he slowly guided himself to my entrance. I could feel him throbbing as he entered me.

And then I woke up.

* * *

><p>Hermione put her quill down and closed her dream journal. Her face was flushed and she was definitely glad she had decided to do this before going to take her shower.<p>

_No way in hell was she letting Severus read this._

* * *

><p>Severus woke up feeling quite pleased with himself. He knew that Granger would come in to his office at some point looking flustered and out of sorts and beg that they change the base potion. It was all worth it just to see the look on her face. He went to breakfast as usual expecting Granger to avoid him like the plague or at least avoid all eye contact. She was already seated in her usual seat next to his as he entered the Great Hall. He sat down and, with a smirk, turned to her. "Good morning, Hermione." She had just finished a bite of food. She placed her fork down and smiled at him.<p>

"Morning Severus! It's a very pleasant morning isn't it?" She was positively glowing. Hm. New strategy. Go for the kill. He lowered his voice to an almost whisper and checked to see if any of the other staff members were trying to listen in.

"How were the dreams last night, Hermione? Did you at least not have nightmares?" That should do it.

"Thank you for asking, Severus. Thankfully I had no _unpleasant _dreams last night. I am keeping a dream journal as you suggested as well." She looked completely unfazed. It was as if Severus had just asked her what her favorite knitting pattern was. This was not how this was supposed to work. She was supposed to look flustered. After that, Severus would make an inflammatory comment on the content of her dreams, she would get angry and stomp out, a matter of hours would go by, and then she would apologize for stomping and demand an apology in return. Severus would then change the subject and get out of trouble all together. This is the plan that worked every time. She must have been hiding something. "I'll be keeping the content of the dreams to myself though, if you don't mind. Although I can tell you that I did avoid nightmares, I won't be going into details." She gave him a smile before returning to her breakfast. Aha! She must be embarrassed because of the person she dreamed about. That's even better. He would use this to his advantage later.

"I'm glad that you had a reprieve from the nightmares. We'll discuss the journal later." She frowned up at him and looked as if she wanted to say something, but he continued. "Let's meet in my lab tonight and work on our first change in the potion."

"Alright. What time exactly?"

"I believe seven will do. Please remember to be _on time _for once." He smirked as he began to eat his breakfast.

"Indeed. I will attempt to curtail my rampant tardy-ness. I must be such a bother to you, Severus." She rolled her eyes in a teasing way before taking her leave. She always insisted that she needed time before class to prepare. It was his opinion that she probably just needed yet another cold shower.

* * *

><p>The day passed quickly and luckily for Severus, only a few cauldrons had met their untimely demise in his six-years potions class. It seemed that one of his students had gone to the Finnigan school for potion making, but that was to be expected. There was always one in every group.<p>

Dinner was over and the time he and Hermione had discussed was fast-approaching. He glowered at the clock. She would be late again. He could bet on it. He sighed and once more went over all of the notes he had prepared. He decided it would be best to test all of the individual parts before the brewing of the actual potion so that Granger would have less to foul-up. Suddenly, there was a loud bang as his door flew open.

"I'm not late, Severus. Don't even give me that look." He hadn't even been aware of the glare he'd been giving her. It was becoming a automatic response of his every time she opened the door. "I had a few of the seventh year girls who thought that it would be a fantastic idea to ask me for relationship advice. I told them that it would have been more informative for them if they had gone to Madam Pomfrey. I'm fairly certainly she's seen more action than I have as of late." He did not almost drop his stack of notebooks. They were simply poorly balanced because of the numerous bookmarks. Gravity was to blame.

"I highly doubt that being an appropriate statement to tell a student. You'll give them all nightmares and then they will destroy my class room due to sleep deprivation. Really? Poppy Pomfrey? That mental image was completely uncalled for. And, don't think I don't realize that this is all a horrible contrived plot to make things difficult on me." She laughed loudly at this. She had a brilliant smile on her face that seemed wonderfully kissable in that moment. He meant loathful. _Loathful. _

"I swear Severus. You can be amusing when you want to be." The look she gave him was almost as if she were flirting with him. Which wasn't possible. She suddenly clapped her hands together and gave him an all too enthusiastic and determined look. "So, Severus, where do we begin?"

"We'll start by going over a few other potions ingredients' effects and sid-effects and then we will begin the brewing process. The brewing process itself should take more than a few hours." She groaned and he felt an odd sense of triumph.

"A few _hours_, Severus? This isn't all I do you know. I have a lot of research that I do before each of my classes and I also have assignments to grade!"

"Well, if we can get this first version done tonight, I will let you have Saturday off."

"Deal." Of course he wouldn't _actually _be letting her get out of a Saturday brewing session. That was part of the fun. "Let's begin, shall we? I think that starting tonight I will begin taking the potion as well." She gave him a questioning look as he continued. "I was thinking about how the potion works and if it works differently depending on gender or age, at least we'll have some of the basics covered. That way I may also be able to get some relief for a while." Her face almost looked flushed. "I'll be keeping a journal as well so we can chart the progress." She nodding and began looking over the different ingredients he had listed and the effects. "Speaking of the journals, Hermione, I will eventually need to look through yours. I can't be sure about the potion's effect if I don't know what you have dreamed."

"You do not need to know all of the details Severus. I can tell you the basics and you can be satisfied with them." She casually filled through the notes while scribbling something down in a pad she had brought.

"Hermione, I really do think it best if-"

"I will _not _be sharing private details of dreams with you, Severus. Stop asking."

"It isn't as if these dreams could be anything scandalous in nature, Granger. I'm sure mister Potter will be thrilled to know that you dream of him." He knew this was going too far. He also knew that the horrified blush that covered her checks and spread down her neck was completely worth it.

"I'll have you know, _Snape, _that I was not dreaming of _Harry!_ He is my best friend and nothing more. And besides that, _who _I dream of is none of your business!" She closed the notebook shut roughly as she moved on to the next.

"Honestly, Granger. What on earth are you so embarrassed about? Having salacious dreams? You said yourself that you had gotten less _action _than Poppy lately. It's natural that you would have those sorts of dreams considering your current _state._" She let out a horrified little huff at this and Severus knew he had won.

"Fine! You want to read my journal, Severus? That's fine! You can read it after we've finished and finalized the completed potion and _after I read yours!_" He had not expected this. Why on earth did she want to read his journal?

"That is perfectly fine. At least _I _can understand the importance of thorough testing." She rolled her eyes but at least seemed to have calmed down a bit.

"Alright Severus. Now can we please get to work?"

Four hours passed in comfortable silence. She was annoying and ridiculous, but he had to admit she was a diligent and competent worker. Finally, they had finished the potion.

"Alright Hermione. We will both take this potion tonight and then write _exactly _what we dream about in our journals once we wake up. Names of those in the dreams are not needed." Hermione agreed and gathered her things.

"Good night Severus. Let's talk meet before breakfast so I can tell you what the differences are."

"That's fine." He stacked his notebooks and handed her the vial of potion.

"Good night, Severus." She closed the door.

Severus took the next few minutes cleaning up and getting ready for bed. He swallowed down the potion in on gulp, tucked himself comfortably underneath his blanket and went to sleep. He hoped that whatever _pleasant _dream would visit him would at least be better than the nightmares.

* * *

><p>The room was not bright but lit well enough that he could see clearly. He was sitting in the tub in his bathroom. He used it very infrequently but it was nice when he wanted to relax. He leaned comfortably against the back of the tub and closed his eyes. He was drifting off into comfortable bliss until he stretched his feet out in front of him and came into contact with something <em>soft<em>.

"Eek!" It wasn't an ear-piercing screech, but more like a surprised little womanly sound. _Womanly._

He jerked his head up and quickly brought his knees towards his chest.

"Granger! What the fuck are you doing in my bath?" Hermione Granger was sitting naked in this bath tub. She was _naked. _

"I was taking a bath." It almost seemed more like a question then a statement.

"You were _taking a bath? _In case you haven't noticed, this is _my _bathroom! Get out!" Granger seemed even more confused at this point.

"Huh. I suppose this _is _your bathroom. I don't remember ever seeing it before." She seemed to suddenly realize that she was indeed sitting in his bathtub naked and moved to cover herself. "Can you hand me a towel, Severus? Or at least close your eyes." He had to fight to not say '_it's nothing I haven't seen before._' He closed his eyes and could hear her begin to get up from the tub. He was _not _imagining the droplets of water cascading down her skin. Suddenly, he realized he was feeling a great deal more of Granger's skin than he had ever intended.

"Ah!" She had slipped on a bar of soap at the bottom of the tub and fell. Directly into his lap. "Oh, _Merlin,_ Severus! I am so sorry!" She then proceeded to try and retrieve her footing but instead slid the bar of soap around making the bottom of the tub a slippery mess. All the while the curvaceous naked body of Hermione Granger was rubbing up against Severus on all sorts of inconvenient places. She then tried to gain some leverage with her arms but only ended up with her breasts pressed firmly against his chest. He couldn't help letting out a low moan. He could feel her freeze the moment the sound left his lips. She looked up at him and he suddenly realized how close her face was to his. Before he could explain that it certainly that wasn't what she thought it was poking into her thigh, she closed the distance between them and claimed his lips. He sat very still for a few moments and attempted to get away from the obviously possessed woman. He certainly wouldn't take advantage of the situa- _Merlin_. _How on earth did she move her hips like that?_

_Fuck it._

His hands latched on to her hips and he responded deeply to her kiss. He took control lifting her up and pinning her against the opposite wall of the tub as the water sloshed around them. He ground against her as one hand reached her breasts, kneading the soft flesh. She let out a breathy moan and arched against him. He kissed her deeply before moving his mouth down to her breasts and taking one nipple into his mouth. He sucked roughly as she moaned, clutching his hair in her hands with pure need.

"_Severus._" He moaned deeply hearing his name on her lips. He never thought a word could be so arousing. He kissed her again before positioning himself above her. He guided himself to her entrance and slowly pushed in. Hermione cried out and wrapped her legs tightly around him. He growled low in his throat and willed himself not to come at the first feel of her tighten around him. Finally he sunk into her fully as they panted. He slowly pulled out and pushed back in, building a pace. "_Severus._" It was sounding more like a plea and less like his name this time. "_Please. _Faster. Harder." He pulled almost all of the way out and plunged back into her. She cried out his name. He thought there couldn't be a person in the castle that didn't hear that. He picked up the pace as her legs tightened around him. He kissed her deeply knowing he was close.

"_Hermione._" He moaned her name as he roughly slammed into her, gripping her hips tightly. She cried out and tightened around him as she climaxed, pushing him over the edge with her. He was still inside her as his world faded to black.

Severus woke up.

* * *

><p>Severus woke up suddenly and sat up panting. He had just had a dream about Hermione Granger and his sheets were now far from clean. A shower was also now on the top of the list of his things to do.<p>

_What the fuck?_


End file.
